DDPP in 2016 : taking stock and looking forward

In the new policy context created by the Paris Agreement, 2016 was the right time for the DDPP to take stock of its results and initiate new perspectives.

Refine the DDPP analysis through a patchwork of collaborations

Subsets of DDPP members have been formed to investigate more in-depth some key aspects identified during DDPP phase 1, according to the teams’ interests and focuses. Four DDPP European teams contributed in 2016 to a study assessing the EU progress towards its 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Seven of the DDPP teams are involved in the RIPPLES H2020 project, aiming at defining coherent macroeconomic and transition storylines. The Coal Transitions project, involving four DDPP teams, analyzes the conditions of a coal phase down in coal-intensive economies. And last but not least, two sectoral working groups on transport and industry have been launched to analyze the specific challenges posed by deep decarbonization in these sectors and the drivers of emission reductions.

Additional collaborations among DDPP members are under consideration, for example the analyze of the implications of the “well below 2°C / 1.5°C” for national development pathways.

Continuation of the DDPP analysis at the country level

Several country-specific reports have been published in 2016 to complement the 2015 analysis. For the first time, a report addressed specifically the decarbonization of Land-Use and Agriculture sector (AFOLU), on the example of Indonesia, providing a concrete example of an enlargement beyond energy, with the adaptation of DDPP tools to this purpose. This includes also the publication of policy-specific reports building on the 2015 country analysis, but with an approach directly targeted to policy engagement, like on the example of Canada.

Knowledge sharing on methods and tools

The lessons learnt during the first phase of DDPP have been broadly disseminated, notably the methodologies and their relevance to domestic debates. In 2016, these lessons have been synthetized in an Issue Brief.

Methodological tools have been elaborated to provide concrete guidance and support to teams willing to conduct DDPP-style studies, either within the current newtwork or outside. A prominent example of this is the work led by the US DDPP teams to develop a version of their so-called “EnergyPATHWAYS model” with a new user interface facilitating the appropriation

Expansion of the project

In 2016 the DDPP prepared its expansion to countries not yet covered, in collaboration with domestic research partners. For example, the DDPP participated in Portugal to a public conference with officials and domestic stakeholders, organized by the local think-tank Get2C. It was a key opportunity to promote the DDPP approach to mitigation and development.

In 2017, the objective is to help structure this process by encouraging the organization of thematic regional networks.

Contribution to the scientific debate, especially to the IPCC process

A first step was the publication of a Climate Policy Special Issue on the DDPP, with seven peer-reviewed articles on methods, policy design, incorporation of domestic policy circumstances and the linkage between national analyses and the global context.

The engagement in the scientific literature will continue with collective and individual team’s publications already planned throughout 2017, notably as outputs from on-going project. These publications are mainly aimed at contributing to the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C due in 2018. They will be complemented by the direct participation of several DDPP members to the drafting of the IPCC report, and the presence of PR Shukla as co-chair of IPCC WGIII.

Domestic engagement

The DDPP country research teams continued to engage in their domestic policy processes. Lessons on how DDPP studies can be useful are presented in a paper presenting Australia, Canada and France’s examples.

The support to international policy initiatives

The DDPP network actively supports several high-level policy initiatives, aimed at bringing the DDPP inputs into the policy debates. Notably, the DDPP actively supports the preparation of the G20 through its participation to a study commissioned to IEA, IRENA and OECD by the German ministries of the Energy and of the Environment in preparation of the German G20 presidency.

The DDPP has also been actively associated to the preparation and framing of the 2050 Pathways Platform launched by Laurence Tubiana at COP22, which will constitute a key space for multi-stakeholders discussions on long-term pathways in the years to come. The DDPP network will notably provide concrete analytical support to the members of this platform through methods, capacity building and direct support to the development of long-term pathways.